Spring-catch for satchels and grips.



A. W. POLTE.

SPRING CATCH FOR SAICHELS AND GRIPS. APPLICATION FILED FEB. 17, 1915.

L WQQM. Patnted Apr. 18, 1916.

Maggi; Z4 F072 23y Mwv-WVTM THE coLummA PLAOGRAPH :o., WASHINGTON, D. c.

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AUGUST W. PGLTE, OF CI-IICAGQ, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO K. KAUFMANN & (30., A CORPORATION OF NEW JERSEY.

SPRING-CATCH FOR SATCHELS AND GRIPS.

Application filed February 17, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, AUGUST IV. Pocc'rn, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Spring-Catches for Satchels and Grips, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention has reference, generally, to improvements in that class of bagfasteners which are ordinarily employed with the hing-ed frame-sections of bags, suitcases, and the like; and, the invention relates, more particularly, to a novel construction of safety-latch or look for bag-frame sections, with a view of providing a simply constructed and positively acting construction, which is readily manipulated to permit the frame-sections to be brought into their separated or opened relation, and is automatic in its action to retain the hinged frame-sections in their closed or locked relation.

Tn suit cases, satchels and grips having an opening lengthwise thereof normally closed by folding two frame members one over the other, to the outer of which a handle is attached, it has long been the practice to provide catch devices on opposite sides of the handle for detachably securing the adjacent parts of the frame of the grip together, but these catch devices have heretofore required manual operation to release them, this sometimes by pushing a bolt-like catch lengthwise of the frame and sometimes by lifting the catch upward against the forcible retaining action of a spring.

The object of this invention is to provide a device of this kind in which, when the grip or satchel is closed, the catch devices are detachably locked in closed position, said catch devices being readily releasable and automatically movable under the action of a spring controlling each catch to a position where the grip frames are no longer secured by the device in question.

The invention consists in a device for carrying out the foregoing object which can be very easily and cheaply made and installed, which is satisfactory in operation and not readily liable to get out of order.

The invention further consists in details and features of construction which will be fully set forth in the specification and claims.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr, 1%, i916.

Serial No. 8,757.

Referring to the drawings, in which similar numerals indicate the same parts throughout the several views; Figure 1 is a perspective view of the frame members and handle of an ordinary grip or satchel, the same belng closed and held in position by devices of this invention. Fig. 2 is an enlarged sectional detail view of portions of the frame members of the grip or satchel showing the device of this invention in locked position, the same being taken on the line 22 of Fig. 6. Fig. 3 shows the same parts as in Fig. 2 but in unlocked position. Fig. 4 is a vertical sectional detail view on the line H of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is an end view taken in section on the line 55 of Fig.3. Fig. 6 is an inverted plan view of the mechanism illustrating this invention.

In the figures the lower frame member of the grip or satchel is designated in the various figures by the numeral 10 while 12 is the upper or outer frame member, these two parts fitting together in the ordinary manner, as clearly appears in Figs. 4 and 5. For convenience the catch device of this invention is mounted in a little case or housing 14 of its own, the same being in the form here illustrated substantially rectangular and secured to the upper grip frame member 12 by suitably bent fingers or lugs 16, although any suitable means may be used without departing from this invention. J ournaled upon a suitable bearing pin 18 located at a convenient point, in this case the housing, is an upper bolt-carrying memher-or cover 20 movable at the will of the operator between the positions of Figs. 2 and 3. This cover member 20 carries on its under side a projecting bolt or catch member 22 slidable through a recess 26 in the top of the housing 14 and through recesses 28 and 30 in the frame members 12 and 10 respectively. This bolt or catch member 22 is so shaped that when the cover 20 is in the position of Fig. 3 the frame parts 10 and 12 are unlocked one from the other and the grip or satchel controlled by the device may, so far as this device is concerned, he opened; while on the other hand, when the parts are moved to the position of Fig. 2 this catch member 22 passes under one edge, as for instance edge 32, of the slot 30 in the lower frame member 10 and thus securely holds the frame members together in the position of Figs, 1, 4 and 5. The

.innersurface of the top slots 28 and 30 are made only slightly larger than the width of the catch member 22 so that when the parts are in the position of Fig. 2 the member 22 prevents lateral moveshaft 18 and suitably engages the cover member 20 on a projection or pin 36, the spring being so arranged that it normally moves the cover 20 and-attached catch member 22 from the position of Fig. 2 to that of Fig. 3. On the lower end of the member 22 is a hook 38 adapted to engage the upper frame member 12, as clearly appears in Fig. 3 and thus limit the upward movement of the members 2022 under'the action of the spring 34.

Through the catch member 22 and immediately adjacent to the cover member 20 is an opening or a perforation 40 so located and arranged with reference to the parts about to be named that when the members 20-22 are in the position of Fig. 2 it is entered'by a latch dog 42 pivoted to the of the housing 14 at 44 and controlled by the spring 46 tending to normally press said latch dog into said opening 40. The latch dog 42 is partof an oscillatorily arranged tumbler, being one arm ofa bell crank whose opposite arm 48 is controlled by a push button 50 extend ing from the end of the housing'14. The parts thus described are so arranged that When the operator presses upon button 50,

and swings the tumbler or bell crank 4248' in a clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 6, until the latch dog 42 clears the'wall of member 22 the members 20-22 under the action of spring 34 move throughthe position of Fig. 2 to that of Fig. 3. During this movement the end of the tooth on latch dog 42 bearsagainst the side of member 22, being held there by the spring 44 and is ready to snap back into, recess 40 whenever the operator presses upon cover 20 andmoves it and attached member 22-from the position of Fig, 2 to that of Fig. 3.

From the foregoing description it will be seen that when the user of the grip, suit case or bag controlled by devices of this type has brought the frame. members 10-12 into closed position it is only necessary for him to p ress'downward gently upon the cover member 20 in order to secure said frame members in closed position and to continue this movement until the position of Fig. 3 is reached where the latch dog 42 operates. "When, on the other hand, the user of the grip desires to open it all he has to do is to'press upon the push buttons 50 on opposite, sides of the central handle 52 and the catcheswill fly from the position of'Fig. 2 to that'of Fig. 8 under the action of their respective springs 34, thus rendering the grip in condition for opening without interference from these catch devices.

The claims are 1. In a device of the class described, a substantially rectangular housing secured to the frame of a grip or satchel, a cover member pivoted near one end of said housing and carrying a catch member moving through said housing, a spring urging said cover member away from the housing, a latch member pivoted in and near the opposite end of said housing, spring means urging said latch member toward said catch member and into a recess so located therein that when the catch member is in said recess the cover is retained adjacent to the housing, and means operable from outside the housing for releasing said latch member.

2. In a device of the class described, the combination of a housing member, a cover member pivoted near one end thereof and spring urged away from the housing, a curved catch member carried by the cover and movable through the housing, a bell crank pivoted inside the housing and at the end which is opposite the pivot of said cover member, spring means urging one arm of said bell crank into contact with said catch member to lock it in such a position that the cover member is in contact with the housing, and a push button operatable from outside the housing engaging said bell crank to, at the will of the operator, release said latch device, for the purposes set forth.

3. A bag-frame lock comprising a casing provided in its top with an opening, a boltcarrying plate upon the upper surface of said casing and hinged thereto, a bolt extending vertically and downwardly from said plate and through the opening in said casing, a pivoted and manually operated and oscillatorily disposed and horizontally movable bolt-engaging means connected with said casing but independent of said plate and bolt for normally maintaining a closed and locked relation of said plate and bolt with relation to said casing, and means cooperating with said plate for automatically raising said plate and bolt when released by said oscillatorily disposed bolt-engaging means.

4. A bag-frame lock comprising a casing provided in its top with an opening, a boltcarrying plate upon the upper surface of said casing and hinged thereto, a bolt extending vertically and downwardly from said plate and through the opening in said casing, a pivoted and manually operated and oscillatorily disposed and horizontally movable bolt-engaging means connected with said casing but independent of said plate and bolt for normally maintaining a closed and locked relation of said plate and bolt with relation to said casing, a spring within 139 said casing for controlling said oscillatorily disposed bolt-engaging means, and means cooperating with said plate for automatically raising said plate and bolt when released by said oscillatorily disposed boltengaging means.

5. A bag-frame look comprising a casing provided in its top with an opening, a boltcasing plate upon the upper surface of said casing and hinged thereto, a bolt extending vertically and downwardly from said plate and through the opening in said casing, a pivoted and oscillatorily and horizontally movable disposed bolt-engaging latch-member connected with said casing but independent of said plate and bolt for normally maintaining a closed and lock relation of said plate and bolt, a push-button having a shank pivotally connected with said latchmember for actuating said latch-member and release it from its retaining engagement with said bolt, and means cooperating with said plate for automatically raising said plate and bolt when released by said latchmember.

6. A bag-frame lock comprising a casing provided in its top with an opening, a boltcasing plate upon the upper surface of said casing and hinged thereto, a bolt extending vertically and downwardly from said plate and through the opening in said casing, a pivoted and oscillatorily and horizontally movable disposed bolt-engaging latch-member connected with said casing but independ ent of said plate and bolt for normally maintaining a closed and lock relation of said plate and bolt, a push-button having a shank pivotally connected with said latchmember for actuating said latch-member and release it from its retaining engagement with said bolt, a spring within said casing for returning said latch-member into its retaining engagement with the bolt when said plate and bolt are returned to their closed positions with relation to said casing, and means cooperating with said plate for automatically raising said plate and bolt when released by said latch-member.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto subscribed my name in the presence of two witnesses.

AUGUST W. POLTE.

Witnesses:

- DWIGHT B. CHEEVER, MARGARET D. RoBB.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patenta, Waahinmtom, D. G. 

